EDITOR'S NOTE: Instead of awarding a top prize, DIADEM judges have chosen to distribute the $75,000 prize money among four of the five teams in the competition. The winning teams are listed here.

Nestled in the bucolic hills of Virginia, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Farm campus easily lulls visitors into a state of relaxation. But right now, teams of computer scientists are ignoring the picturesque surroundings. They’re hunkered down in pods, staring at large computer monitor...